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Trent Alexander-Arnold
Trent Alexander-Arnold (born 7 October 1998) is an English footballer who plays as a right-back for Liverpool. Alexander-Arnold began featuring in the first-squad in 2016-17, making twelve appearances as backup to Nathaniel Clyne. A long-term injury to the Clyne brought the youngster into the starting XI, and he became the club's first choice right-back, starting in the 2018 Champions League Final. He kept his place in the 2018-19 campaign, and was named in the PFA Team of the Year, as well as having a starring role in Liverpool's Champions League victory. Liverpool career Alexander-Arnold was born and raised in Liverpool, and joined the academy in 2004 at the age of six. Seen as a very talented and versatile player, he rose through the ranks and eventually became the captain of the U16s team. He made his U18s debut in 2014 and quickly became a regular, eventually becoming the captain of the side. On 2 August 2015, Alexander-Arnold made his first team debut, starting at right back and putting in an impressive showing in a 2-1 friendly win at Swindon. This was followed by him signing his first professional contract when he turned seventeen in October 2015. In the summer of 2016, Alexander-Arnold regularly featured for the first-team in pre-season, making appearances both at right-back and in his usually preferred centre midfield role. Due to the departure of Jon Flanagan on loan, Nathaniel Clyne and Connor Randall were left as the only senior right-backs, leading to supporters predicting that Alexander-Arnold could make his competitive debut sometime in the season. The youngster was given the number 66 shirt for the season. On 25 October 2016, Alexander-Arnold made his Liverpool debut, starting and playing around 70 minutes in a 2-1 League Cup win over Tottenham. He kept his place for the next cup game, and was named man of the match in a 2-0 win over Leeds, with the full-back assisting Divock Origi's opener with a fine cross. On 14 December 2016, Alexander-Arnold made his Premier League debut, coming on as a late substitute in a 3-0 win at Middlesbrough. On 15 January 2017, Alexander-Arnold made his first Premier League start, filling in for the injured Nathaniel Clyne in a 1-1 draw with fierce rivals Manchester United. Arnold continued to make cameo appearances throughout the rest of the season, sometimes in a more advanced role as he did in the Merseyside Derby. On 9 May 2017, Alexander-Arnold was named Liverpool's Young Player of the Year. Due to impressive performances in pre-season alongside an injury to Nathaniel Clyne, Arnold started the 2017-18 season as first choice right-back, starting on the opening day in a 3-3 draw at Watford. On 15 August 2017, Alexander-Arnold made his European debut, starting away to Hoffenheim in the Champions League Playoff. Arnold opened the scoring with a superb thirty yard free-kick as the Reds won 2-1 win Germany. He scored his second of the European campaign from long range in a 7-0 win at Maribor on 17 October. On 26 December 2017, Alexander-Arnold scored his first Premier League goal, firing in from the edge of the box to net Liverpool’s third in a 5-0 win over Swansea. After coming under a lot of criticism in past weeks due to high profile errors against Man Utd and Crystal Palace, On 4 April 2018, Arnold was named man-of-the-match in a 3-0 Champions League win over Man City. In perhaps the biggest performance of his career he shut down the threat of Leroy Sane, who was City’s only real attacking outlet throughout the game. On 26 May 2018, Alexander-Arnold started in the Champions League final, and put in a good performance, neutralising Cristiano Ronaldo despite suffering a 3-1 defeat. Despite the return of Nathaniel Clyne to full fitness, Alexander-Arnold started the 2018-19 campaign as Liverpool’s first choice right-back, starting the opening three games and keeping clean sheets in all of them. On 15 September, Arnold made his 50th appearance for the club, starting in a 2-1 win away to Tottenham. On 24 November 2018, Arnold scored his first goal of the season, firing in a free-kick to net Liverpool’s second in a 3-0 win away to Watford. With injury to Joe Gomez the departure of Nathaniel Clyne, Alexander-Arnold became the club's only senior right-back, and when struggling with injury his absence showed with the Reds struggling for form. On 27 February, Arnold started his first Premier League game in over a month, and put in a sensational performance in a 5-0 win over Watford. The right-back picked up three assists with crosses from the wing, making him the youngest ever player to do that in a Premier League game. On 4 May 2019, Alexander-Arnold started in a 3-2 win over Newcastle, picking up two assists from the right flank. Three days later, he started in the second leg of the Champions League semi-final, with the Reds 3-0 down from the first leg against Barcelona. Ten minutes after half-time, the youngster charged down the right wing, before crossing to the edge of the box, where Georginio Wijnaldum fired the Reds 2-0 up on the night. After 79 minutes, Liverpool were level, and had a corner kick on the right flank. Alexander-Arnold took a quick corner, catching all the defenders unaware, and allowing Divock Origi to fire in what proved to be the winner, and send Liverpool to a second consecutive Champions League final. In the final league game of the season, Alexander-Arnold massively contributed to both goals in a 2-0 win over Wolves, reaching a tally of twelve league assists, the most ever for a defender. At the end of the season, Alexander-Arnold started in his second consecutive Champions League Final, the youngest ever player to achieve this. The right-back played the full 90 minutes, as the Reds won their sixth European Cup, Alexander-Arnold started the 2019-20 season again as Liverpool’s first-choice at right-back. On 9 August 2019, he assisted Divock Origi’s goal in a 4-1 win over Norwich, becoming just the eight player in Premier League history to get an assist in five consecutive games. On 22 September 2019, Alexander-Arnold fired in his first goal of the season, opening the scoring in a 2-1 win away to Chelsea. A well-worked set-piece routine, Mohamed Salah backheeled the ball to the youngster, before he struck it right into the top corner. Alexander-Arnold made his 100th appearance for the club on 2 November 2019, starting in a 2-1 win away to Aston Villa. The youngster assisted Sadio Mane's 94th minute winner, with a perfect cross from a corner. A month later, he assisted both goals in a 2-1 win over Brighton, both superb crosses onto the head of Virgil van Dijk. He then followed this up three days later, assisting another Mane effort in a 5-2 Merseyside Derby victory. On 26 December 2019, Alexander-Arnold put in a man-of-the-match performance in a vital Premier League game away to Leicester. The full-back assisted two Roberto Firmino goals, each inch-perfect crosses, before firing in his own effort late on to round off a 4-0 away win. Honours Liverpool *UEFA Champions League: 1 (2019) *FIFA Club World Cup: 1 (2019) *UEFA Super Cup: 1 (2019) Individual *PFA Team of the Year: 1 (2018-19) *UEFA Champions League Squad of the Season: 1 (2018-19) *Premier League Player of the Month: 1 (December 2019) *Liverpool Young Player of the Year: 2 (2016-17, 2017-18) *Standard Chartered Player of the Month: 1 (November 2018) Stats External links * Category:Current Players Category:Defenders